The present invention relates generally to the decontamination art. It finds particular application in the washing, sterilizing and disinfecting apparatus typically employed to clean, sterilize and disinfect medical, dental, veterinary, mortuary and laboratory instruments and equipment and will be described with particular reference thereto. It will be appreciated, however, that the invention may be applicable to a wide variety of apparatus used in sanitizing.
Medical, dental, surgical, veterinary and laboratory equipment and instruments are often cleaned, and/or sterilized by water/detergent washing, steam, H.sub.2 O.sub.2 or other vapor treatments, or reagent treatments. More particularly, an apparatus is provided which isolates the equipment and instruments in these respective environments for a sufficient period of time to complete the cleaning and/or sterilization. Washing apparatus of the type used in institutional settings; the steam autoclave devices of the type described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,193,818; 4,226,642; and 4,601,300; the reagent type sterilization devices of the type described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,731,222; 5,037,623; and 5,391,360; and the hydrogen peroxide systems of the type described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,169,123 and 4,169,124 provide examples of cleaning and decontamination apparatus with which the present invention is particularly suited. Each of these patents is hereby incorporated by reference.
One element often found in each of these devices is a shelving arrangement to support a load of instruments or other equipment (the "load") being cleaned and/or sterilized in the appropriate location within a chamber to achieve the desired results.
A shelving system must accomplish a variety of goals. Particularly, it is desirable that the shelving system provide clearance of the load from the chamber walls. In addition, the shelving system must be sufficiently strong to support the load. However, the mass of the shelving must be kept relatively low to prevent wet pack loads, particularly in steam cleaning, where steam would condense on overly massive shelves. In addition, the shelving system must include sufficient ventilation to allow a cleaning solution, a sterilization solution and/or a vapor to reach the load being decontaminated. Moreover, the shelving system should not interfere with the circulation of these liquids and decrease the effectiveness of the operation.
Historically, a typical rack system has been constructed of a wrapped wire or rod suspended on a tubular support. The tubular support is generally self-suspending on a plurality of support guides permanently secured to the walls of the decontamination chamber. Unfortunately, these systems are typically expensive to manufacture as a result of the significant amount of time required in tube bending and tack welding.
The present invention contemplates a new and improved shelving system which provides the necessary performance yet is easily manufactured at a low cost.